PONDERWALL

Thousands of Children Got Tested for Lead With Faulty Devices: What Parents Should Know

A company that makes tests for lead poisoning has agreed to resolve criminal charges that it concealed for years a malfunction that resulted in inaccurately low results. While many of the fault-prone devices were used from 2013 to 2017, some were being recalled as late as 2021. The Justice Department said the malfunction produced inaccurate results for “potentially tens of thousands” of children and other patients.

What Philadelphians Need to Know About the City’s 7,000-Camera Surveillance System

Politics

Philadelphia’s camera network grew at an astounding pace. In the past decade, the city has gone from 216 cameras to a network of more than 7,000 cameras operated by police and transportation officials.

How Memories Are Made – And Preserved

Science

Although working memory has very limited capacity – at any given time, it can accommodate just four to seven pieces of information – it is essential for normal human functioning and represents what Spitzer calls a ‘superpower’.

Math Degrees Are Becoming Less Accessible – And This Is a Problem for Business, Government And Innovation

Science

There’s been a 50% drop in numbers of maths students at the lowest tariff universities over the five years between 2017 and 2021 in England. As a result, some universities are struggling to keep their mathematics departments open.

Hayek’s Road to Serfdom at 80: What Critics Get Wrong About the Austrian Economist

Economics, Politics

The Road was especially popular in the US. This was helped by Reader’s Digest publishing a shortened edition in 1945, introducing Hayek to a non-academic audience of some 9 million households. He was seized upon by conservatives opposing Franklin D Roosevelt’s interventionist New Deal.

Polluted Minds: Airborne Toxins Can Increase Our Risk for Cognitive Disability and Disease

Politics

Airborne toxins can increase our risk for cognitive disability and disease. The science of exposomics is helping to identify effective responses. those with median levels of air pollution have a 56 percent greater risk of developing Parkinson’s disease compared to those living in regions with the lowest level of air pollution.

Lead From Old Paint and Pipes Is Still a Harmful and Deadly Hazard in Millions of US Homes

Politics

The World Health Organization estimates that more than 1 million deaths each year are attributable to lead poisoning, with the highest exposures in developing nations. Lead continues leaching from old paint, pipes and industrial sources into soils, homes and waterways across the globe.

Robo-Advisers Are Here – The Pros and Cons of Using AI In Investing

Economics, Technology

AI-powered robo-advisers, such as Betterment and Vanguard in the US, and finance app Revolut in Europe, are now democratising investment. These tools are making professional financial insight and portfolio management available to everyone. But although there are plenty of advantages to using robo-advisers, there are downsides too.

Why Does It Feel So Cold in the UK Right Now – And When Will It Warm Up?

Geography

It won’t come as a surprise that temperatures have been well below average this week, especially in eastern areas of the UK where they’ve stayed stubbornly in single digits. The atmospheric observatory at the University of Reading indicates the average daily maximum temperature for April so far is 14.4°C – that’s 0.4°C above average.

How to Unlock Our Electronic Junk’s Potential Through Recycling

Politics

Better recycling electronic items could reduce mining’s high environmental impact. In fact, for some metals, recycling is more energy efficient than mining. Extracting aluminium through recycling, for example, requires 10 to 15 times less energy than primary production.

UK Smoking Ban Would Have Many Benefits for Public Health – But Only if It’s Effectively Implemented

Politics

Smoking rates in the UK have been falling over the last few decades, in part helped by tobacco control efforts during this time. In 2022, just under 13% of adults (around 6.4 million people) in England smoked cigarettes compared to nearly half the population in 1974.

How to Filter out PFAS and Forever Chemicals From Water

Politics

Chemists invented PFAS in the 1930s to make life easier: Nonstick pans, waterproof clothing, grease-resistant food packaging and stain-resistant carpet were all made possible by PFAS. But in recent years, the growing number of health risks found to be connected to these chemicals has become increasingly alarming.

Why Some Indians Want to Change the Country’s Name To Bharat

History

The appearance of Bharat in official government correspondence may reopen old wounds for Muslims and the conservative Hindus in the south.

Exposing Plants to an Unusual Chemical Early on May Bolster Their Growth and Help Feed The World

Science

Environmental conditions during germination can have profound and long-lasting effects on plants that could increase both their size and their stress tolerance at the same time.

Lithography nanoimprint machine announced by Canon, promising 2nm chips without EUV

Technology

The Japanese industrial and imaging manufacturer Canon has released a new cutting-edge lithography machine using a more cost-effective process than ASML’s EUV.

Russia’s Legal Interpretation of ‘Espionage’ Has Broadened Since the Soviet Era – As the Case of Evan Gershkovich Shows

Politics

Under the revised version of Article 276, espionage now constitutes “the transfer, collecting, stealing, or keeping for the purpose of transfer to a foreign State, international or foreign organization, or of their representatives, of information comprising a state secret.”

Stand Your Ground Laws Empower Armed Citizens to Defend Property With Violence – A Simple Mistake Can Get You Shot, Or Killed

Politics

Stand your ground laws authorize defensive violence without a duty to retreat, wherever a person may legally be. Some also expand the circumstances in which someone could use lethal force to defend property.

The Marketing Tricks That Have Kept Barbie’s Brand Alive for Over 60 Years

Economics, History

Rejected by the toy industry at first, Barbie is now one of America’s most trusted brands. “She” – the 11.5 inch blonde doll, but also her brand persona – generated worldwide sales of around US$1.5 billion (£1.3 billion) in 2022, and has a brand value of US$590 million.

The Northern Lights Appeared in Southern England Twice in One Week – Here’s Why This Could Happen Again Soon

Geography

People across the UK, from the Shetland Islands to Somerset and from Norfolk to Northern Ireland, have been treated to a stunning display of the aurora borealis or northern lights recently. But what causes this beautiful phenomena and why has it appeared so far south?

Silicon Valley Bank biggest US lender to fail since 2008 financial crisis – a finance expert explains the impact

Politics

Silicon Valley Bank, which catered to the tech industry for three decades, collapsed on March 10, 2023, after the Santa Clara, California-based lender suffered from an old-fashioned bank run. State regulators seized the bank and made the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation its receiver.

Unlocking secrets of the honey bee dance language – bees learn and culturally transmit their communication skills

Science

Astonishingly, honeybees possess one of the most complicated examples of nonhuman communication. They can tell each other where to find resources such as food, water, or nest sites with a physical “waggle dance.” This dance conveys the direction, distance and quality of a resource to the bee’s nestmates.

Consumers Underestimate How Many Negative Product Reviews Might Be Fake

Science

Consumers consider online reviews to be among the most important sources of information for making buying decisions. However, according to a 2019 report by Which?, the U.K.‘s consumer champion organization, many of these reviews on popular websites such as Amazon are fakes.

Thousands of Children Got Tested for Lead With Faulty Devices: What Parents Should Know

What Philadelphians Need to Know About the City’s 7,000-Camera Surveillance System

How Memories Are Made – And Preserved

Math Degrees Are Becoming Less Accessible – And This Is a Problem for Business, Government And Innovation

Hayek’s Road to Serfdom at 80: What Critics Get Wrong About the Austrian Economist

Polluted Minds: Airborne Toxins Can Increase Our Risk for Cognitive Disability and Disease

Lead From Old Paint and Pipes Is Still a Harmful and Deadly Hazard in Millions of US Homes

Robo-Advisers Are Here – The Pros and Cons of Using AI In Investing

Why Does It Feel So Cold in the UK Right Now – And When Will It Warm Up?

How to Unlock Our Electronic Junk’s Potential Through Recycling

UK Smoking Ban Would Have Many Benefits for Public Health – But Only if It’s Effectively Implemented

How to Filter out PFAS and Forever Chemicals From Water

Why Some Indians Want to Change the Country’s Name To Bharat

Exposing Plants to an Unusual Chemical Early on May Bolster Their Growth and Help Feed The World

Lithography nanoimprint machine announced by Canon, promising 2nm chips without EUV

Russia’s Legal Interpretation of ‘Espionage’ Has Broadened Since the Soviet Era – As the Case of Evan Gershkovich Shows

Stand Your Ground Laws Empower Armed Citizens to Defend Property With Violence – A Simple Mistake Can Get You Shot, Or Killed

The Marketing Tricks That Have Kept Barbie’s Brand Alive for Over 60 Years

The Northern Lights Appeared in Southern England Twice in One Week – Here’s Why This Could Happen Again Soon

Silicon Valley Bank biggest US lender to fail since 2008 financial crisis – a finance expert explains the impact

Unlocking secrets of the honey bee dance language – bees learn and culturally transmit their communication skills

Consumers Underestimate How Many Negative Product Reviews Might Be Fake

Swedish Company Discovers the Largest Deposit of Rare Earth Metals in Europe

Bolsonaro Supporters Invade the Brazilian Congress

Serbia Requested Sending Security forces to the Republic of Kosova